This spring, after attending the Dior show during Paris Fashion Week, the fencer and Olympic silver medalist Sara Balzer was announced as an ambassador for the brand. The following month, she appeared on the cover of French Elle alongside Pauline Déroulède, a wheelchair tennis player, and Marie Patouillet, a para-cyclist.
The same week, the modern pentathlete Élodie Clouvel, also an Olympic silver medalist, appeared at the Hermès show and on the cover of Madame Figaro magazine, fencing foil in hand, wearing a white bodysuit, gold shin guards, swim goggles and an equestrian helmet as a belt.
Being a champion tends to open doors to other realms. But landing a front-row seat at some of the hottest shows in Paris — or a coveted contract — doesn’t just fall from the sky. Even when your home country is hosting the Olympic Games. That’s where L’Agence Magnifique comes in.
Also known as L’AM — an acronym that plays on the French word for soul — the fledgling agency specializes in “image architecture” for elite athletes. It introduced Dior to Ms. Balzer, Balenciaga to the French judo champion Teddy Riner, and placed the French rugby star Cameron Woki in the front row at Sacai, Hermès and Loewe. Ms. Clouvel’s Madame Figaro cover was shot by Joseph Degbadjo, one of L’AM’s principals, who is also a fashion photographer.
Formed three years ago by Mr. Degbadjo, 34, and his business partner, Frederic Vilches, 49, L’AM is out to change how global luxury brands interact with top athletes. The two men are in a position to do so in part because they know both sides of the game. Not so long ago, they were on the pro track themselves.
“Our mind-set is completely different from the classic approach,” Mr. Degbadjo said. “It’s not about management training, it’s about the school of life. It’s almost as if we’re cloning ourselves to create a new model for luxury branding.”
Mr. Vilches, a native of Nîmes who grew up in La Réunion, played with the Nîmes Olympiques soccer club for three years before attending art school and then becoming an agent in London.
“For five or six years, I watched what goes on behind the scenes, a side of sports I hadn’t known as a player, with millions of euros at stake,” Mr. Vilches said. “People treat players like oil wells, and things can get really brutal, physically and psychologically.”
It was early in the pandemic when Mr. Vilches said he began mulling the connection between athletics and aesthetics. He decided to open a boutique sports talent agency in which fashion would be the through line.
“Athletes need someone who speaks their language, and so do luxury brands,” he said.
Mr. Degbadjo was born in Cotonou, Benin, and grew up north of Paris. At 16, he was in training at the Newcastle United Academy in England, but he left soccer to get a degree in tax law from the Sorbonne. An odd modeling gig (which he disliked) sparked an interest in photography.
A break came when he heard about an aspiring Black model who was struggling to get new photos taken for a casting in Milan. He canceled a soccer session to help out. The model, Lineisy Montero, went to Italy and landed the Prada campaign.
“Suddenly, there I was in the middle of my passions,” Mr. Degbadjo said. “I figured I could use my law degree to become a FIFA agent and, as a photographer, photograph my clients.”
After a chance meeting with Mr. Vilches, the two decided to team up. Their first client was Charles Leclerc, the Monegasque Formula 1 driver who is part of the Ferrari stable and a face of its lifestyle brand.
Today, L’AM Paris has a dozen clients, including Mr. Leclerc, Mr. Riner, Ms. Clouvel, who recently signed with Patou, and the Paralympic athlete Alexandra Nouchet, now a spokesmodel for Make Up For Ever. Young protégées include the tennis players Phalyn and Penelope Parrott, ages 10 and 12, whom Mr. Degbadjo considers “the next Williams sisters.” Top fashion and luxury houses have come calling.
To help their charges navigate new fortunes and the smoke and mirrors of fashion, there are a few absolute principles, Mr. Degbadjo said. One: It’s always better to turn down a contract that’s the wrong fit, no matter how lucrative.
And two: Steer clear of the party circuit and go to art galleries instead. “That’s what opens the doors to other people and other worlds,” he said.
